1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document composition system under which CAD software and document composition software can run and that composes a document while fetching graphic data created by the CAD software into the document. More particularly, this invention is concerned with a document composition system capable of fetching graphic data efficiently and correctly.
In recent years, engineering workstations have gained popularity and CAD software and document composition software are often run on the same engineering workstation. An image fetch facility or one of the facilities of the document composition software is used to fetch a CAD drawing as image data, and then an engineering document is composed on the workstation. This kind of document composition system must be constructed in such a manner that graphic data created by the CAD software can be fetched into the document composition software efficiently and correctly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, graphic data for CAD drawings has been fetched into the document as follows: graphic data for CAD drawings are converted into bit map data (image data) and displayed in a display screen, a user is prompted to select any graphic data to be fetched into the document composition software from among the displayed graphic data, and then an image fetch facility fetches the selected graphic data into the document composition software.
The foregoing prior art does not pose any problem as long as the graphic data to be fetched into the document composition software need not be enlarged or reduced in size. However, if graphic data must be enlarged or reduced because it is too large or small, image data representing the graphic data must be enlarged or reduced in size. This results in extra or missing graphic elements. Thus, graphic data cannot be fetched into the document composition software correctly.
To fetch graphic data into the document composition software correctly, a time-consuming procedure must be followed: control is temporarily returned to the CAD software, the graphic data represented as vector data is enlarged or reduced to a size required by the document, and then the document composition software is activated to fetch the graphic data, which has been converted to have a desired size and represented as image data, into the document.